HATOFUL BOYFRIEND: HOLIDAY STAR

Y’know, the reason why I hyped Hatoful Boyfriend (the original game) was mainly because of the BBL route. The way it turned the plot into something completely unexpected blew my mind, and I found myself SO invested in a story about birds…I never really thought it possible! The other day I finally had some time to play through Holiday Star and…what can I say…it was just more of the same for me. : /

At first I wanted to sit down and take notes, but I realized I didn’t really have much to say. There wasn’t much to choose or do for the player this time around (except from reading, obviously), which I didn’t mind – the character routes of the original game were really silly anyway xD – but I can’t say that it was a particularly enjoyable read for me, especially in the first half. It got a little better later on. I liked the picture book-esque style in the third and fourth story a lot, but all in all I got a little bored of the game as a whole midway through. The recycled OST didn’t make it feel much like a new experience either. Most of all though, I didn’t know how to feel about the story taking place in some AU setting, where BBL never happened (yet is referenced heavily anyway…so much 4th wall breaching). I mean, I get why, but still…

It wasn’t a bad game though. Just…not as mindblowing (??) as I had hoped (I KNOW! It’s about birds, what was I thinking???). It offered some funny pop culture references, which I enjoyed, especially the Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney ones. Also, I was really happy to get some more input on Nageki, as well as SHUU (fire emoji) AND RYUUJI (I ship them). The extra featuring a shrine visit with the character’s human forms was a lot of fun too, mainly because I finally got to see more than one expression on their faces, heh!

In the end I think maybe everything was too subtle for me? Not that I want stuff to be IN YOUR FACE kind of obvious all the time, but I certainly do like and enjoy flashy WTF-moments quite a lot, which is also why BBL route resonated that much with me in the first place. :3c Holiday Star is an enjoyable…DLC? Fandisk? Sadly nothing more than that. Though I already knew BBL would be a unique experience (or at least I thought I did)…should’ve kept my expectations in check.